What Does It Mean To Backfill A Position

What is backfill?

Backfilling involves filling a vacant position for reasons like temporary leave, permanent departure, termination, promotion, project reassignment, or resignation.

To ensure seamless continuity of operations, prevent costly disruptions, and maintain productivity, a new employee with similar qualifications and skills is recruited to fill the gap for a specified period.

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When a company faces understaffing caused by unexpected absences, the remaining employees must take on an extra workload, often leading to overtime. These additional hours can quickly accumulate costs if employees are paid hourly, thus reducing profits.

Furthermore, the vacated position may require specific knowledge and experience that other team members may lack, resulting in project delays. Arranging for timely backfilling enables the entire team to function efficiently.

Backfill vs. replacement position

A replacement position is a vacant position that HR needs to fill using a similar job classification. Usually, the replacement is permanent. But when backfilling a position, a new employee with similar experience and skills is hired, usually temporarily.

When would HR need to backfill a position?

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Many situations could lead an HR to backfill a position. Below are some examples of where you need to be ready with a backfill plan.

1. Temporary leave: When dedicated employees take planned leaves like vacation, sick leave, or parental leave, HR should be ready to backfill these positions with contract-to-hire employees.
2. Resignation: Hiring managers must find replacements when employees hand in their resignation notices, be it for better offers, career switching, medical reasons, or family focus. These resignations often come with little warning, leaving limited time for finding replacements.
3. Promotion: Employee promotions are worth celebrating, but they can cause stress for unprepared companies if the newly vacant position is not backfilled. It’s crucial for hiring managers to have backfilling plans in place to maintain positive promotions.
4. Termination: When employees are terminated due to poor performance, contract conclusions, or evolving role requirements, HR managers usually have prior knowledge of the situation. This gives them time to plan and find suitable replacements.
5. Death of an employee: In such emotionally challenging situations, HR should handle them compassionately. It’s important to ensure employees are not overwhelmed by additional workloads, as this can lead to depression, anxiety, or work-related stress.

How HR can fill a backfill position

HR should implement proactive measures to ensure a smooth transition during vacancy situations. Having contingency plans based on different scenarios can help address vacancies in the company.

Temporary backfilling

• Identify at-risk positions or employees who lack redundancies, such as a single web developer in a web-development company, a head chef in a restaurant, or a sole accountant in a small business.
• Anticipate upcoming vacancies, such as when an employee announces their pregnancy, and plan accordingly.
• Maintain records of employee skills to easily match them with the skills required for temporary backfilling. This can be achieved by creating a database and considering employees who have moved to different positions within the company.

Fast backfilling

• Consider hiring through employee referrals to fill positions and reduce future backfilling needs quickly. Employees hired through referrals tend to stay in their positions longer. Encourage current employees to refer individuals who possess the necessary skills and experience.
• Look within the company for suitable candidates who are familiar with the role and can step up to fulfill the duties. Promoting internally not only aids in backfilling but also increases employee satisfaction and reduces turnover.

HR tip

If the employee is leaving on good terms, request them to assist in training and onboarding their replacement. This helps to provide a smoother transition in filling the position and reduces knowledge loss.

Longer-term planning

• Prepare for future vacancies by cross-training employees to create in-house redundancies. For example, consider training sales team members as marketing specialists or junior project managers for higher managerial positions.
• Network at social events and conferences to identify potential talent that can be called upon when a role needs to be filled.
• When an underperforming employee is identified, search for a replacement in advance. While there may be potential for performance improvement, it is often not a reliable outcome.

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